Second path
by Sephionos
Summary: A young boy the son of a Soldier and adopted son of Cloud and Tifa enters and adventure that reveals the past and gives him a path to the future.


**Chapter 1**

The smoke filled the air as the sound of battle erupted in old midgar. The battle between the WRO and Deepground had begun and it was entering its fourth hour of the battle. The ground forces had already begun their attack lead by Cloud Strife and his team. Cid Highwind lead the aerial combat with his ships as the fliers came down on the hover boards, Among them Vincent Valentine who had been shot off course by the enemy.

Deepground did not allow the WRO to gain any ground on them due to the fact that Deep ground was made up of Mako enhanced soldiers. A young WRO Soldier watched from the Sierra as the ground troops were slowly being taken from the right flank. He looked to see what they would do about it, but he had spotted Cloud far off on the Left flank fighting what seemed to be a red haired woman. Tifa and Barret were keeping the center from losing ground.

The young man started to walk away from the deck when a familiar voice called to him "Kuro where do you think your going?" Cid said as he kept hold of the wheel. His voice was harsh and somehow concerned since the battle started going bad. "You can't go out there no one has been able to get past Azul's flurry of attacks and even if you did what can do you?"

The young man smirked as he seemed to look off into the distance. "I do what a SOLDIER would do" He responded walking away. He wore a dark blue cloak with a hood. It covered his whole body except the broad sword on his back. He walked down the stairs in the hangar where he grabbed one of the hover boards. The doors opened and the sound of war reached his ears more than before. He looked down at the chaos on the ground and in the air. Cid had kept them at a safe distance in the sky, but it was time to take action. He jumped off the ledge placing the board on his feet.

The air went past him quickly, but his hood staid up since it was tied down. He drew his sword from his back revealing the original type that SOLDIER used. "Shelke do you copy?" He said as he stayed in a safe distance analyzing the area.

A few moments passed before radio silence was broken "Yes what do you need?" She responded from inside the ship. Kuro looked around once more before responding to her "I need to know where Azul has been sighted and how far he is from my position, also I want to know the enemy influence between me and him.

"From your position he is on the right flank about five miles from you. There seem to be a lot of choppers in that area and they are causing problems for the ground forces. Aside from that I don't have anymore information from what you asked for Kuro Strife" She said to him before signing off. The young man looked to the direction he was supposed to go and even if Shelke had not told him he would have known.

He started to move in that direction at a high speed, but no matter how fast he went one chopper had already taken notice of him. It turned its large metal body and began to move straight towards him with Gatling guns going off. Kuro leaned to the right rolling downward barely dodging the spray of bullets. He aimed his hand at the Chopper waiting to get close enough. His hand began to glow a fiery red and as soon as they were but a few meters from each other the call came out "Firaga!"

A great fire engulfed the chopper as he skid along the bottom and swinging his blade catching the fuel tanks. The explosion that followed seemed to draw in the attention of the rest. Fearless and a bit suicidal he started to move towards the choppers with his sword ready in front of him.

A swarm of missiles soon filled the sky with explosions as he dodged them left and right, but only by a few graces as the Deepground soldiers were well trained. He started to climb up in the sky making it harder for the choppers to rise as quickly as him. Soon he was looking down at the many spinning blades. He put both hands in front of him and began to concentrate as best he could while still keeping his sword in hand.

The choppers were coming up as they had given up on trying to shoot him and were more content on trying to slice him with their blades. Finally with a strained voice "Ultima!" he called out and a white flash overtook the sky. Soon after the choppers were dropping from the sky onto the ground.

Kuro soon landed on the ground and walking in the waste of the helicopters, he suddenly heard large foot steps behind him. The large man he saw after he turned could not be mistaken. It was Azul the biggest soldier in Deepground and probably the strongest.

"Seems I found a beetle in a pile of ants" he said.

**Chapter 2**

The young WRO member stabbed his sword on the ground as several other Deepground soldiers seemed to take notice of his entrance. He pulled off his cloak revealing a different look than any other member of WRO. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with baggy matching pants. He wore combat boots in which his pants disappeared to at the bottom while the waist of his pants disappeared in a SOLDIER belt incrusted with five materia whose color depended on what they were from left to right creating an arc on the larger part of the belt.

White=Ultima

Red=Firaga

Blue: Blizzaga

Yellow:Thundaga

Purple: Dualcast

Two straps crossed on his chest holding onto the silver shoulder armor pieces he wore. They were double layered like Sephiroth's armor, but the top layer seemed sharper. He wore an Old Soldier helmet with a large scar coming from the top right to the bottom left of the helmet. Even though it seemed scratched up and old it seemed like that mark is the one that stood out the most. He wore black globes that carried chains around the fore arm area.

Azul aimed his cannon t him with a sick smile thinking on how it will look as soon as the explosive bullet hit the smaller frame of the man in front of him. He pulled the trigger hearing the blast and feeling the force of the weapon. Kuro dove to the side feeling the explosion propel him against an old steel pillar "Damn bastard" he said, but as soon as he gained his sense he felt the rest of the enemies around him begin to move in for the kill. He got to his feet and clenched his fists knowing his sword had been blow in the other direction. the first Soldier that reached him swung his blade down, but he only cut air as Kuro side stepped punching the man on the head while giving off a charge of Thundaga that pierced the Soldier's head and hit countless other behind him. He ducked aiming his other arm behind him as a frosty blue glow appeared on his hand as a rain of ice boulders began to drop on his enemies. As soon as the spell was done the Soldiers charged ahead, but using Dualcast Kuro was able to instantly create another shower of ice boulders.

Azul stared from far as the young man was taking down his minions as he liked to think them as. He noticed the great amount of use of magic and realized that even in his final form he would be at a disadvantage with this man. Then came some static from the communication device on his wrist "Vincent valentine is inside head him off at the elevator" came the voice of Nero. The large man took one last look at the young man as the place seemed to light up after a powerful Firaga. "Hope you die" he said walking away.

Even though his magic was strong he still would not have enough time to cast an Ultima spell, but the other magic was doing good in taking down a great number of them. Even through his efforts he soon ran out of magic power, but while others would despair he could only smile in excitement. He placed a foot in front of him bending his knees and placing his fists in front of him.

"Time to see if what my adopted mother taught me works like she said it would" he said feeling one of the soldiers charge at him. He ducked under the man's sword as it swiped sideways and spun sweeping the soldier's legs. The rest of the enemies moved in to strike, but Kuro had jumped up and kicked another soldier on the head with a jumping round house kick. He landed on one foot while the other one heel kicked another soldier on the helmet hard enough that the helmet seemed to burst.

He ran to one of the soldiers feeling another one chase behind him. He placed a foot on the hips of the one in front of him propelling himself to back flip kicking the man on the jaw and with the same foot landing a knee on the helmet of the one that followed him. 'Their easy to take down, but their numbers might take me down…sorry Tifa I guess I am not as good as you yet right mom?' he thought before breaking from the ranks. He noticed a large area that seemed to drop deeper to midgar, but there seemed to be no bottom to the fall.

He ran to the gaping area and jumped without hesitation. Soon his surroundings were getting darker and darker with the bottom of the fall still no where in sight. It was time for Kuro to decent into the darkness of the past and the horror that awaits him in this mysterious yet familiar place.

Chapter 3

"only when the darkness seems to take my heart do I see how I got in this mess "He thought as he closed his eyes feeling the wind move past his face and body as he kept falling.

"…_A few years ago…"_

"I remember it like it was yesterday when a young man by the name of Cloud and a young woman named Aerith found me in Kalm in an alley way living alone in the street. My mother had not taken the death of my father well at all and before she died she gave me his helmet and his sword along with the rest of his uniform and the materia I carry with me. She told me to grow strong to fit that uniform and wield these weapons with pride. I carried a back pack with the uniform and helmet in them and carried the heavy sword with me."

"I had been wounded by a group of monsters I had fought before, but without the proper training I did not do so well. Cloud carried me out of the alley and took me to a room where I saw the rest of the group. My eyes felt heavy so I only got a glimpse of the large group which later I found out they were AVALANCHE."

"When my eyes opened a few days later I found a young raven haired girl by the name of Tifa. She seemed worried and had her back turned to me and I did not trust anyone back then. I escaped from the room only to find myself in Midgar. I had been told by my mother that this was the place where my father had lived and trained most of his life."

"I wandered for a few hours not noticing where I was going when I was attacked by monsters and I had left my sword in the room with Tifa. I remember that I did not back down I just stared at the group of monsters hoping that would be enough to take them out., but then the spiky haired blonde guy came with a large heavy sword and took them out easily and his group surrounded me as if to cover me. I fell to my knees not knowing how to react. I had never been protected that way before. I felt as if my father had just saved my life then as he would have if he was alive."

"I stayed with Tifa a few days as cloud had left with the group, but soon he had come back with the grave news of Aerith's death. I slowly began to see him change into an empty shell of anger towards the man who killed her."

"I was adopted by Cloud and Tifa as their eldest son along with my new siblings Denzel and Marlene who were really small. I trained every day filled with a new hope to become as strong as cloud so I could save the world just like he was doing."

"Sephiroth was defeated, but the Jenova cells seemed to affect everyone in the form of the geostigma and I became sick. I could not move and felt as if my life was about to end early, but I endured so my brother Denzel would not give up hope for a cure. Just like before my adopted father saved the world and I was soon taken and dipped into a pool of water where my health came back. I was older now and left my home to join the WRO so one day I could make a difference in this world"

His thoughts were soon interrupted by the sign of a light below which meant he would soon land. He launched off the wall near him slowing down his fall and landing with a roll. He took off his helmet keeping it in hand as his mako filled blue green eyes got a better view of the area. He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket that was covered in a strong metal to keep it from breaking. He dialed a few numbers and placed it against his ear and soon the response came.

"What is it Kuro Strife" came Shelke's voice.

"I need you to track me and send me a map of this place…also I need better lighting here" he said to her. Soon the hall way in front of him lit up and his cell phone beeped as the map was uploaded "where am I?"

"you seem to have dropped into the old Soldier barracks" Shelke said" take care of yourself, Shelke out"

Kuro started to walk down the hall passing a hand through his long dark brown hair. The place was filled with doors each with a name and number on them. The number meant whose class they were and the name of the person whose room it belonged to. He walked down the hall reading every name not knowing what he would find.

Chapter 4

Step by step the past seemed to unfold in his blood as it burned with emotions coming from the heart. The corridor seemed long and even though there was no one here the presence of many who used to reside here lingers. The doors were rusted; some of the names and numbers were scratched off. The floor was full of grabble and pieces of glass from some of the broken lights, the new electricity running through the place created sparks down the hall of the past.

He stopped at a door whose name was almost all gone; the only thing left was the letter "K" on it. Kuro tried to open the door, but the electricity feed was only strong enough to let it slide up a couple of inches. A few sparks could be heard off to the side and some of the lights had gone out from the tension of power used by the door. He lowered himself gripping the bottom of the door tightly taking in a deep breath before he started to try and force the door up. His muscles began to tighten as the door slowly started to move with a loud screech and the sound of the joins on the door breaking.

As soon as all the mechanisms were broken the door snapped open with a crash. He entered the room that was dimly lit by sparks and some working lights. There was a single bed with a desk next to it. The lamp that was on top of the desk was crushed by a large stone, but the desk seemed to have endured it. The walls seemed as if they could break at any moment.

Kuro still walked in placing his helmet on the bed and passing his hand through the covers softly. He walked around the bed taking a seat and opening the drawer on the half crushed desk. Inside there was what looked like a computer disk of some sort. He placed it down next to his helmet and stood up. The desk finally gave away to the boulder falling to the ground with a loud sound that made Kuro turn and stand on his guard. He soon relaxed realizing it had only been the desk and smiled to himself. He turned towards the closet having to force the electric door open once again.

Inside there were four uniforms that he recognized to be different ranks in Soldier starting from infantry man to SOLDIER first class. Next to that was a shelf with helmets and shoulder armor along with a small collection of materia. Across from that was a rack with two broad swords, two hand guns, and a machine gun. On a shelf on top of that there were two picture frames. He reached up taking one at a time and walking out of the closet sitting on the bed once again and blowing gently the dust off of the first picture.

The picture had a young man wearing a SOLDIER second class uniform and helmet with a smile and a drink on his hand. Next to him was another young Soldier wearing the same outfit but he did not have a helmet. His skin was kind of pale that contradicted his dark long hair that was pulled back into a few spikes that ran down the back of his head, except for the two bangs that came down the sides of his head, but not enough to cover the mako induced eyes of every SOLDIER. He turned the frame and began to read a description in the back out loud

"SOLDIER third class graduation into second class

-Zack and me"

He smiled softly and silently for a few moments tracing his fingers along the letters of the description. He turned the frame over to see the picture once again and closing his eyes. He placed the picture on the bed and grabbed the other. He blew away the dust and wiped it a bit to see a picture that made him stop breathing. It was the same young SOLDIER wearing his helmet with a smile and his arm around a young girl who he held close. He slowly turned the frame and began to read.

"A wonderful moment after a mission

Crystal and me"

His eyes saddened and his body suddenly felt weak. He put his head down holding the picture close to him. His eyes began to get teary and his breathing started to become hard from sobbing. In his arms he knew he held the only proof that his father had ever existed. The stories his mother had told him about his father were true, he was a SOLDIER. That time his mom had introduced him to his father…He thought it was only a dream, but now he knew that it was real. His father had held him in his arms right before his death which he witnessed.

"Mom…dad" he said through the pain in his heart and the swelling he felt from his throat. He felt pressure on his chest and wished Cloud and Tifa were with him in that moment. He never knew the last name of his father or mother and so he had taken the name of his new parents and becoming a member of the Strife family, but it did not change where he came from.

He opened his eyes and placed the picture on the bed and standing up looking at himself in the mirror now and seeing that his clothing and armor were all torn and broken from the battle. He had lunged into an impossible fight to test himself, but he was also doing it to see if he would die. He looked at the broken helmet on the bed which he had used in countless battles and realizing just how many times it had saved him from a fatal blow. At that moment he felt as if his father had watched and protected him through his life in the form a sword he lost and the helmet he had abused.

He looked at the closet then back at the picture for a second. He walked into the closet and changed into his father's SOLDIER first class uniform and armor. It fit him as if it was made for him. He grabbed the shoulder armor and crossed the straps across his chest in his usual manner making sure it was tight enough that it would not wobble. He placed a pair of holsters on his thighs and put the two guns in them. He placed the holster for the swords on his back and an extra belt for the machine gun to his hip. He grabbed the limited amount of ammo in a pouch on the other side of his belt. Then finally he turned his head to see the final piece of his father's uniform. The helmet that stood on the shelf was covered in dust and it was chipped in some areas, but nothing big. He took it off the shelf and began to clean it as he walked to the bed. As soon as the dust was taken off He placed it on his head looking at the mirror. To him it wasn't a reflection, but the image of his father looking at him and protecting him as he always did. He walked back to the closet and found two potions in there "I wonder if these things ever expire" he said and shrugged gulping both down. He felt his strength come back to him and also felt confident in using materia again. He walked out and placed his old clothing armor and helmet on the bed, taking the pictures and placing them in his belt. He bowed a bit "may you rest in peace father" he said as he walked out of the room.

The roof then suddenly collapsed in the room crushing everything that was left in there.

"Let me go!" came a cry down the hall suddenly. It had echoed from another room. The sound was coming from the vents "there civilians still alive" Kuro said to himself and pulled out his cell phone seeing where those vents lead.

"Reactor zero" he said as he dashed off through the hall.


End file.
